Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
Hand labeling device
The invention relates to a hand labeling device for im-
printing, dispensing and applying self-adhering labels to
articles in the course of an operating cycle controlled
by means of an operating lever pivotal out of a rest
position into a pulled position, comprising a printing
mechanism arranged in a device housing and having print
types for producing an imprint on a self-adhering label
disposed in a printing position, a transport means which
brings the self-adhering labels consecutively into the
printing position and into the position ror application
to the articles, and an inking device for inking the print
types of the printing mechanism before each printing
operation by means of an inking roll which is held by a
stirrup member pivotally mounted in the device housing
and on pivoting of the stirrup member rolls on the print
types of the printing mechanism
Such a labeling device is known from DE-OS 2,638,048 In
this known device, by means of which labels can be im-
printed in several lines, the stirrup member holding the
inking roll is bendable at an articulation point so that
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1 a relatively long rolling path is achieved on the print
types to be inked without the pivot radius, i e the dis-
tance between the pivot axis of the stirrup and the inking
roll axis, having to be too large. During rolling of the
inking roll on the print types the pivot stirrup member
bends at the articulation point so that after execution
of the inking it projects forwardly at the front side of
the device like a bent knee. The device front side must
therefore be open enough for the bent pivot stirrup member
to project out. A further disadvantage of the wide pro-
jecting is that the operator's vision of the label to be
applied is obstructed by the projecting pivot stirrup
member so that it may happen that the label is applied to
a point where it is actually not desired. The multipart
construction of the stirrup member also has the disadvan-
tage that after long use exact guiding of the inking roll
is impaired because the articulation points wear loose.
In the known device the pivot movement of the stirrup
member holding the inking roll is caused by the printing
mechanism being lowered onto the inking roll on actuation
of the device, whereupon a torque is exerted on the stirrup
member which pivots the latter, the rolling of the inking
roll on the printing types simultaneously taking place.
26 If the known device a rigid stirrup were used, as known
for example from DE-OS 2,502,108, then a relatively large
pivot radius would have to be employed to enable the ink-
ing roll to roll on all the print types and to pivot the
stirrup member to such an extent that the path of the
printing mechanism in the direction towards the label to
be imprinted is not blocked. The long pivot radius neces-
sary for this purpose requires however that the pivot axis
be arranged at a relatively great distance in front of the
pivot path of the printing mechanism. For if the pivot
axis is too close to the path of movement of the printing
mechanism then although the lowering movement of the
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l printing mechanism can initially pivot the stirrup member
with the inking roll with rolling of said roll on the
print types, a blocking position then occurs in which the
path of movement of the printing mechanism and the connec-
ting line between the inking roll axis and the pivot axisof the stirrup member extend exactly tangentially. In
this blocking position the printing mechanism no longer
exerts any torque on the stirrup member so that the latter
can also not be pivoted any further. This blocking state
is prevented only if the pivot axis of the stirrup member
lies far enough from the path of movement of the printing
mechanism. The arrangement of the pivot axis of the
stirrup member at a great distance from the path of move-
ment of the printing mechanism results however in an en-
16 largement of the device housing towards the front which
is contrary to compact construction and which moreover is
unfavourable for handling of the device because the oper-
ator can no longer see how exactly he is applying the
particular imprinted label.
The invention is based on the problem of further develop-
ing a hand labeling device of the type outlined at the
beginning so that even when using a multiline printing
mechanism a compact construction can be achieved.
This problem is solved according to the invention in that
the stirrup member for generating a pivot movement about
an axis is in drive connection with a rod of which the
displacement is controlled by the operating lever.
In the device according to the invention the pivot axis
of the stirrup member can be arranged very close to the
path of movement of the printing mechanism because the
blocking position occurring as such in this case can be
overcome by the action of the rod, i.e. in other words
the stirrup member can still be further moved when the
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1 printing mechanism on its lowering movement no longer exerts
any torque on said stirrup member.
Advantageous further developments of the invention are
characterized in the subsidiary claims.
The invention will be explained by way of example with the
aid of the drawings, wherein:
Fig. l is a schematic illustration of a hand labeling device
according to the invention, the parts moving in the
course of an operating cycle being in the rest
position,
Fig. 2 is a view of the device according to Figure l after
the start of an operating cycle when the printing
mechanism has begun to move in the direction towards
a label to be imprinted,
Fig. 3 is a further view of the device of Figure l at the
instant when the printing mechanism meets a label
to be imprinted,
5 Fig. 4 is a similar view to Figure 3 but the front flap of
the device is open,
Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a pivot stirrup member carry-
- ing the inking roll holder in the device,
0 Fig. 6 is a view of the pivot stirrup member from the side
marked with an arrow in Figure 5,
Fig. 7 is a view of the inking roll holder with inserted
inking roll and5 Fig. 8 is a side view of the inking roll holder from the
side marked with an arrow in Figure 7.
The hand labeling device illustrated in Figure l serves
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1 to imprint an dispense self-adhering labels and attach
them to articles. The device comprises a housing 10
on which a grip 12 is disposed, At the housing upper side
there is a holder 14 for receiving a supply roll 16 of
a carrier ribbon 18 on which self-adhesive labels stick.
~he carrier ribbon extends in the device from the supply
roll 16 firstly downwardly and then in the direction to
the front side of the device to a dispensing edge 20 at
which the carrier ribbon 18 is deflected at an acute angle
and is guided by a transport means 22 to the housing rear
end. Rotatably mounted in the housing in front of the
dispensing edge 20 is an application roller with which
a label detached from the carrier ribbon 18 and disposed
beneath the application roller in the dispensing position
1 can be stuck onto an article.
Beneath the grip 12 an operating lever 26 is arranged which
is pivotal about a pin or shaft 28. aetween the grip 12
and the operating lever 26 there is a spring 30 which
always tends to press the operating lever into the rest
position illustrated in Figure 1. Also located in the
housing 10 is a printing mechanism support 32 which is
also pivotally mounted about the shaft 28. Said printing
mechanism support 32 carries a printing mechanism 34 with
the aid of which a self-adhering label disposed on the
printing table 36 can be imprinted. Between an arm 38 of
the operating lever 26 and the printing mechanism support
32 a spring 40 is disposed which serves to transmit a
movement of the operating lever 26 directed against the grip
12 to the printing mechanism support 32. In the rest
position illustrated in Fig. 1 the printing mechamism
support 32 is held in the raised position by an engagement
face 42 on the operating lever 26.
The printing mechanism 34 comprises at its face facing
the printing table 36 print types 44 which can be inked
before each printing operation by means of an inking
device. The most important part of the inking device is
an inking roll 46 which is rotatably mounted in an inking
roll holder 48. Details of the inking roll holder 48 will be
explained hereinafter with reference to Figures 7 and 8. The
inking roll holder 48 is mounted in turn in a stirrup member
51 which is pivotal about a shaft or pin 50 and the structure
of which will be explained in connection with Figures 5 and
6.
Mounted on the inking roll holder 48 are two guide pins 52
and 53, which are guided in a guide track or path 54. The
guideway apparent in Figure 1 is in the inner face of the
rear side wall of the housing 10, seen from the observer. A
similar guideway 54 is disposed in the front side wall of the
housing 10, not illustrated in Figure 1. Accordingly, the
inking roll holder 48 also has two guide studs or pins 52 and
53, each of which engages into one of the two guideways 54.
At the front side of the housing 10 there is a front flap 56
which can be pivoted about a shaft 58 forwardly into the open
position shown in Figure 4. The shaft 58 is at the same time
also the shaft on which the application roller 24 is mounted.
The front flap 56 is provided with an extension 60 which is
directed toward the housing interior and the end face 62 of
which forms part of the guide track 54. As apparent from
Figures 1 and 4 the guideway 54 has towards the device front
side an exit opening 64 which in the closed position of the
front flap 56 is closed by the lug or extension 60. The
purpose of this exit opening 64 will become apparent from the
description of the mode of operation of the device described.
Between the operating lever 26 and the pivot stirrup member
51 a thrust rod 66 is disposed which with the aid of a spring
68 is biased in the direction towards a pin 70 on the
operating lever 26. The rest position to which the thrust
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rod 66 is biased by spring 68 is shown in Figure 1. The
thrust rod 66 is formed at the end lying in the region of the
stirrup member 51 as rack. The stirrup member 51 comprises
a pinion 72 ...............................................
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which is in engagement with the teeth at the rack end of the thrust
rod 66. It can be seen from the illustration of Figure 1
that the stirrup member 51 is pivoted out of the rest
position shown clockwise about the shaft 50 when the thrust
rod 66 moves to the left.
In Figures 5 and 6 the stirrup member 51 carrying the inking
roll holder 48 is shown in more detail. The stirrup
member 51 comprises two arms 74, 76 which are connected
together by a web 78. At the inner side the arms 74, 76
comprise in the region of the web 78 two pins 80, 82
which serve to mount the inking roll holder 48. Bearing
bushes 84, 86 are disposed on the arms 74, 76 at the
upper ends in Figure 5 and with the aid of said bushes the
stirrup member 51 can be rotatably mounted on pins which
are disposed in the inner faces of the housing side walls.
The teeth forming the pinion 72 are formed on a portion
of the outer peripheral face of the bearing bush 84.
The guide pins 52, 53 are arranged according to Figure 7 on
the inking roll holder 48 in such a manner that they
project laterally at arms 88 and 90,respectively. The arms
88, 90 are connected by means of a web 92. The inking
roll 46 is secured between the arms 88, 90 of the inking
roll holder 48; said roll comprises two journals 94, 96
which are shown in dashed line in Figure 7 and each of
which engages into a corresponding hole 98 in the
associated arms 88, 90 of the inking roll holder 48.
Disposed on the outer face of the arms 88, 90 in the region
of their lower ends in Figure 7 are recesses 100 and 102
which are formed so that they can be placed over the pins
80, 82 on the stirrup member 51.
An operating cycle of the hand labeling device having the
construction described above proceeds as follows:
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1 When the operating lever 26 is pulled out of the rest
position illustrated in Figure 1 against the action of the
spring 30 in the direction towards the grip 12 the movement
of the operating lever 26 taking place anticlockwise about
the shaft 28 is transmitted by means of the arm 38 and
the spring 40 to the printing mechanism support 32. The
printing mechanism support 32 therefore also rotates anti-
clockwise about the shaft 28 and thereby lowers the printing
mechanism 34 in the direction towards the printing table
36. Via a lever connection, not illustrated, the transport
means 22 is shifted to the left along the carrier ribbon
18 in the view of Figure 1 due to the movement of the
printing mechanism support 32.
The detailed structure of the transport means 22 is of no
significance here: it must merely effect that in the course
of each operating cycle of the device the carrier ribbon is
pulled exactly one transport step corresponding to a label
width round the dispensing edge 20 so that in each operating
ao cycle a self-adhering label moves on the printing table 36
into a printing position. A transport means which can be
used for this purpose is described for example in
DE-PS 3,200,977.
26 Due to the lowering movement of the printing mechanism 34
connected to the printing mechanism support 32 the
printing mechanism 34 exerts on the stirrup member 51 a
torque which pivots the stirrup member 51 clockwise. In
the course of this pivot movement of the stirrup m~r 51 the
inking roll 46 rolls on the print types 44 so that the
- latter are inked. At the same time the guide pins 52 and
; 53 move in the guideway 54 in the direction towards the
device front side. As soon as the stirrup member 51 has
reached a position in which the movement direction of the
36 printing mechanism 34 extends exactly tangentially to the
connecting line between the axis 50 of the stirrup member
51 and the axis of the inking roll 46,the printing mechanism
34 can no longer exert any torque on the stirrup member 51.
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1 Without taking further precautions a blocking state would
occur and the stirrup member Sl would prevent the printing
mechanism 34 reaching the label to be imprinted on the print-
ing table 36. The thrust rod 66 ensures however that the
S stirrup member 51 is further pivoted beyond the blocking
position clockwise and thus frees the path for further lower-
ing of the printing mechanism. ~ntil reaching the blocking
position, due to the engagement between the pinion 72 and
the end of the thrust rod 66 formed as a ~ac~ the strirrup
member Sl has shifted the thrust rod 66 towards the left inthe illustration of Figure 2 against the action of the
spring 68. However, as soon as the blocking position is
reached the pin 70 disposed at the upper end of the operat-
ing lever 26 comes into engagement with the thrust rod 66
so that it moves the latter further to the left and this
results in the stirrup member 51 being further pivoted in
the direction towards the front side of the device, The
position in which the.thrust rod 66 starts to move the
stirrup member Sl further is shown in Figure 2. The pivot
angle of the stirrup member Sl can be adapted to the particu-
lar requirements very simply by changing the diameter of the
pinion 72.
Finally, the stirrup membèr with the inking roll holder
disposed thereon is pivoted to such an extent that the
printing mechanism 34 can move unrestricted downwardly
in the direction towards the label disposed on the printing
table 36. Figure 3 shows the instant of the operating
cycle at which the-print types encounter the label
0 disposed on the printing table 36 and generate the desired
imprint. The guide pins 52, 53 are thereby at the end of
the guideway 54.
At this instant in accordance with Figure 3 the transport
means 22 assumes its furthest left position. As soon as
the operating lever 26 is released the transport.means
22 moves back to the right again into its starting position
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1 illustrated in Figure 1 but during this return movement
it is fixedly connected to the carrier ribbon 18 so that
it pulls the latter about the dispensing edge 20. During
this movement of the carrier ribbon 18 the self-adhering
label just imprinted detaches itself from the carrier ribbon
and passes into a position below the application roller
24 in which it can be applied to an article.
When the operating lever 26 moves back again into its
rest position illustrated in Figure 1 the printing mechanism
34 lifts off the printing table 36 again and the spring 68
via its engagement with the thrust tod 66 and the action of
the latter on thepinion 72 ensures that the stirrup member
51 also returns the inking roll holder to the starting
position of Figure 1.
In Figure 4 the device described is shown with the front
flap open. The front flap 56 must be opened or pivoted
up when the inking roll 46 is to be replaced. To prepare
for this replacement operation the front flap 56 is brought
into the position illustrated in Figure 4. Therea~ter
the operating lever 26 is pulled against the grip 12 until
the printing mechanism 34 strikes the printing table 36.
Since when the front flap 56 is open the exit opening 64
of the guideway 54 is open the guide pins 52, 53 in the
course of their displacement can move through the exit
opening 64 out of the guideway 54 into the position shown
in Figure 4. In the example of embodiment illustrated
the guide pins 52, 53 automatically move out of the guide-
way 54 due to centrifugal forces when the operating lever
26 is pulled when the front flap 56 is open and the ink-
ing roll holder 48 is moved together with the inking roll
46 with relatively high speed, In this position the oper-
ator can grip the web 92 of the inking roll holder 48 and
lift the inking roll holder 48 with the inking roll 46
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l mounted rotatably thereon out o~ the stierup member 51.
Preferably, the lnking roll holder 48 and the ~nking roll
46 form a complete replacement un~t so that it is not
necessary to insert a new inking roll into the inking roll
holder: instead, a new constructional unit consisting of
an inking roll holdèr and an inking roll is sîmply in-
serted into the stirrup ~ember 51. After the insertion
the inking roll holder 48 is pivoted so that it assumes
the position shown in Figure 3 in which.the guide pins
52, 53 lie in tbe guideway 54, whereupon the operating
lever 26 is released and as a result the inking roll
holder 48 moves back with the inking roll 46 into the
position of Fi9. l. Thereafter the front flap 56 is closed
so that the extension 60 again closes the exit opening 64.
As a result the guideway 54 is also again closed so tha
the inking roll holder 48 is agaln guided via the guide
pins 52, 53 and secured reliably in the device
As already mentioned above in the inner face of each side
wall of the housing lO a guideway 54 is disposed so that
accordingly two exit openings 64 are dso present. .The
front flap 56 i8 thus also eguipped with two lugs or
extensions 60,.each of whlch closes one of the exit open-
lngs 64.
26
In the further development of the hand labeling device des-
cribed it i8 ensured that even when using a multiline print-
ing mechanism a compact constr~ction is achieved. Becauseof the drive of the stirrup member 51 which pivots the inking
: roll past the printing mechanism 34, said drive being effected
by the thurst rod 66, the pivot point of said stirrup member
can be shifted into the interior of the device housing to such
an extent that an unnecessarily projecting form of the housing
front side can be avoided since it would be unfavourable for
~`~ the application of imprinted labels.
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